Douglas Smith

Pavel was a complicated man, full of contradictions and with a character given to anguishing over Russia’s so-called cursed questions: What has happened? Who is to blame? What is to be done?

By showing contempt for society, the government is teaching society how to disdain political authority.

A student speaking at his funeral captured the mood of many: “The death of Trubetskoy proves again that in Russia, great, free men can only die.”